Final Battle
by fatesvoice529
Summary: Darkwing and Negaduck finally end it all. Who will win?


**Final Battle**  
By: Dawn Powell

The world exploded in color and noise. Then everything went black.  
  
Darkwing's eyes slowly fluttered open and he saw that he was back at the tower. 'How did I get here?' He asked himself as he gingerly placed a hand to his head and felt the lump quickly forming on his brow. He got up from where he was laying and looked around. Nothing seemed different.  
  
Then he heard a voice answering him, "Oh Poor Drakey. Don't you remember? I brought you here."  
  
He knew that voice. It was one that vaguely matched his own. He whirled around to meet his adversary, who was sitting on one of the chairs that lead back to his home. The motion made him moan. "Negaduck. How in the Hell did you get here? And how do you know my real name?"  
  
"Well, being dead does help with that. Of course I should have known in the first place because in a weird way we are one in the same person."  
  
Darkwing winced as his head pounded in the beat of a bass drum. "What do you mean dead?" Then he remembered the explosion that should have killed them both. "Am I dead, too?"  
  
Negaduck snickered. "Well, not yet. Think about it, if you were dead would your head be pounding like that? Jeez, I thought you would have been smarter then that, Drakey Baby."  
  
Darkwing felt nauseated and he held up a hand to his mouth. "Stop it. If I'm not dead than why are you here?"  
  
"Oh, that. Well, the Devil thought my job wasn't done yet. He wants to see you dead and he sent me back to do it."  
  
"Why don't you just do it and get it done and over with? It's not like you don't have the opportunity."  
  
Negaduck jumped up from his seat and slowly sauntered over to his double. "Tsk. Tsk. Now where's the fun in that? The Boss has been watching you and he's not at all happy with what you've been doing. He wants your death to be slow. In other words he wants you to suffer before you croak."  
  
Darkwing moaned again and carefully made his way over to the medicine cabinet for some aspirin. His head felt as though it was going to split open and then Negaduck wouldn't have to bother with killing him. Nature would do it for him. "I don't think so, Drake. Mother Nature can be a bitch sometimes, but she isn't going to stop me from having my fun. The Boss will see to that."  
  
With his back still turned he said, "So you can read my mind now. How fitting."  
  
It was Negaduck's turn to question Darkwing on his meaning. "What do mean by fitting?"  
  
Darkwing would have laughed if he wasn't so close to collapsing again. Instead he drew in a shaky breath and said, "Well, what better way to torture me then by getting in my head and getting to know me better."  
  
Negaducks gave him a vicious smile. "There's hope for you yet, Darkwing. Maybe I can convince you to change your ways. You'd have more fun."  
  
Again Darkwing whirled around and hissed, "Go to Hell."  
  
Negaduck gave a fake yawn. "Been there, done that. And I can't wait to drag you with me on my return trip."  
  
Darkwing's eyes glowed. "You asshole."  
  
As he faded into oblivion Negaduck replied with, "Such language. See. I told you there was hope."  
  
Darkwing snarled and threw the bottle of pills in Negaduck's direction. Of course it missed and hit the wall, spilling the little white pills all over the floor. For a moment he just stared, then he started laughing. *I'm imagining this. This isn't real, it never happened.* He tried repeating that over and over in his head like a chant, but it didn't work. It didn't explain how he got there, or how he could remember the explosion that 'killed' his enemy.  
  
*I'll go home, get some rest, and try to figure this out in the morning.* With that reassurance he gingerly sat down on one of the transporter chairs and pressed Basil's head.  
  
After the chairs stopped spinning he ran for the bathroom, holding a hand over his mouth. He managed to make it before his last meal came back up. Quickly he washed his mouth out and left the room.  
  
There was a surprise waiting for him in the living room when he got there. His daughter Gosalyn was sitting on the chair he just vacated from and was getting ready to press Basil's head to send her to the tower. A sternly as he could he asked, "And just where do you think you're going, Missy?"  
  
Gosalyn jumped in her seat. She didn't realize her dad was back yet. "I was going to the tower. I just heard over the radio that Negaduck's dead. I wanted to see if you knew. Where's Launchpad." She expected to see her dad's sidekick with him.  
  
The aspirin he had taken still hadn't taken any affect and it made him grumpy. He snapped at her. "Of course I know he's dead! I killed him! As for Launchpad, he's at the mall. I told him that I could handle it." The room started to spin and if he didn't sit down soon his face would be having a personal conversation with the floor. Staggering all the way he got to the couch and sat down heavily on it.  
  
"Are you alright, Dad?" She got up from the chair and went to sit by her dad on the couch.  
  
He gave out a loud moan when the cushions moved beside him. "No. I blew up with him. Now I have a splitting headache."  
  
"Dad!" He moaned again and covered his ears. In a quieter voice she went on. "Dad! We have to get you to the hospital. You could be hurt worse then what you think you are."  
  
"I'm not going. All I need is a good night's rest. I'll be fine in the morning." He decided not to tell her about his visit from Negaduck. He didn't want her to think he was crazy too.  
  
Gosalyn sighed. "Fine. If that's what you want. I'll leave you be. I'm going over to Honker's." She stomped out of the house, slamming the door behind her.  
  
Darkwing was confused. Gosalyn had never acted that way before. She always went into mother hen mode if he got hurt. But he was too tired at that moment to really think about it. So after resting for a few moments he stood up and slowly made his way for his bedroom.  
  
When he got there he fell right on the bed and instantly went to sleep, still in his costume.  
  
The next day he awoke to the sound of someone singing slightly off key. He still had his headache, but fortunatly it wasn't as severe as it had been the night before. He turned to where the singing had come from and saw Negaduck sitting on the edge of his bed. "It's about time you woke up. How do you ever get anything done? Not that you actually do."  
  
Darkwing groaned. He didn't need this. "I guess I wasn't imagining you yesterday, was I?"   
  
Negaduck grinned, this was going to be fun. "Nope. I'm here and I'm going to kill you."  
  
Darkwing climbed out of his bed and grabbed some clothes to change into. "Well, isn't that nice. Now how many times have you threatened me with that over the years? At least twice a week if memory serves me. So what's different about this time?" He started to change into his Drake personna. He didn't bother turning around, if Negaduck was here it wouldn't matter if he saw him. It was like he said yesterday he was his double. That meant nothing to hide.  
  
"You do have a sense of humor. A bit rusty though." Drake rolled his eyes. "Actually it was more like twice a day, and what's different about this time is that I will be carrying out this threat. What else do I have to do? I'm dead. I've got all the time in the world to carry out my plan and you can't stop me."  
  
"Ohh. I'm really scared." Negaduck just gave a sadistic smile as he faded away.  
  
"Finally. He's gone." Drake folded up his costume and placed it on his bed. He'd have to get it cleaned if he was going to be going out tonight. Of course he did have that extra one. His mind wandered from his problem with his now deceased enemy to what he should have for breakfast and of the errands that he had to run that day.  
  
When he got downstairs he was surprised to see that both Gosalyn and Launchpad were gone. He had figured that at least one of them would be home. It was a Saturday so Gosalyn wouldn't have school and Launchpad hadn't said anything about going out today. He shrugged it off and went into the kitchen for his morning coffee. They'd show up sooner or later.  
  
Around one o'clock Drake started to get worried. Neither one had shown up or even called. He knew that Gosalyn had been upset with him yesterday, but she would never go off without calling him at least. In Launchpad's case it was the fact that he hadn't come home for lunch. He never would skip a meal. *Maybe they decided I needed a day to myself. After all I did almost get blown up.*  
  
He decided to go out for a walk. So he grabbed his jacket and went out the door. Drake didn't really pay much attention as to where he was going, he had other things on his mind, like Negaduck. When he did look up to see where he was at he found himself at the cemetary. 'Now how in the world did I get here?' Like his arriving at the tower after the explosion, him coming to the cemetery was a puzzle in itself.  
  
"I lead you here." A voice came from behind him.  
  
"Aren't you getting sick of this game, Negaduck? If you're going to kill me get it done and over with already. I'm sure the Devil has better things to do than send you up here to bug me." He whirled around to face his adversary.  
  
"Of course he does, but I put in the request to do this and he agreed to it. As for killing you that's exactly what I plan on doing. I just figured the perfect place to do it would be at the cemetery. That way they can bury you without the service. Saves them time." He was grinning while he said this.  
  
Drake rolled his eyes. "Oh that's soo funny. Come on let's get this over with." He was getting bored with the whole game.  
  
"What, no snide comments or one last battle? Boy, you're getting soft in your old age Drake. Of course you were always soft." Negaduck pulled out his gun.  
  
"Don't you remember, Negaduck? We already had our last 'battle.' You lost. I didn't know dying made you lose you memory." He may have looked like he was giving up but that was the last thing Darkwing Duck was going to do. If he was going to die he was going to do it fighting.  
  
Negaduck aimed the gun and fired. At the same time Drake dropped to the ground and rolled. The bullet just missed. "Shit. I knew it was too good to be true." Before Drake could make his next move Negaduck fired the gun again, this time hitting him in the right shoulder.  
  
Drake jumped up clutching his shoulder. He needed to get out of there. It wasn't that he couldn't fight, but with the injury he would be at a disadvantage. He looked around for a way out, how can you escape a ghost? To his dismay he saw there was no where he could go. Then he looked at where Negaduck was standing and found that he was gone.  
  
He gave a sigh of relief and ripped off part of his shirt to use as bandage until he could get home. He thought about what Negaduck had said about killing him the in cemetery and decided that he had changed his mind about it. When he got the bandage secured, he took a closer look around to see about how he was from home. Even with the make shift bandage stopping the bleeding he needed to get back and get it cleaned before it could become infected.  
  
Drake was grateful to see that Negaduck hadn't lead him too far from home and that by taxi he could be there within ten minutes. So he set about hailing a taxi only to find there were no cars on the road. And when he looked around for people that were walking there was no one to be found. *What is going on here? Where is everyone?* Drake asked himself as he started the long walk home.  
  
He was about half way home when he felt an overwhelming dizzyness and a throbbing in his arm. He stumbled over to a nearby bench and heavily sat down. On impulse he glanced down at his wound and was shocked to see that it hadn't stopped bleeding, if anything it had gotten worse. He didn't know it had been that serious.  
  
He gave out a low moan as he realized that the things he was feeling was caused by blood loss and that if he didn't get help soon he could kiss his ass good-bye. *It's not like I'm going to be living much longer anyway. I have a crazed ghost after me, saying that he's going to kill me.* He thought with a chuckle.  
  
Carefully, as not to jar his injured arm, Drake got up from the bench and continued his walk home. This time a little more wobbily than before. Then he felt a coldness on his uninjured arm and knew that his companion had returned. "I was wondering when you were going to show up. Didn't think you would let me die without being here."   
  
Negaduck slowly came into focus beside him. "You're such a dimwit, Drake. You're not going to die here. Did you think I would let you have the pleasure of dying before I've finished having my fun? I don't think so."  
  
Drake gave him a smile that was laced with pain. The throbbing in his shoulder had gotten worse and he was growing weaker. "So where are you going to kill me?"  
  
"Right here." Negaduck waved a hand to show Drake that they were back at his house.  
  
Of all the things that have happened to him in the last twenty-four hours he shouldn't have been surprised at the sight of his house, but he was. His jaw dropped a couple of inches. "How did we get here? I still had a half mile before I'd get here."  
  
"Oh, Drake. You shouldn't worry about little things like that anymore. The question you should be asking is when am I going to kill you?"  
  
"What!? After all this time of me asking you that you're going to do it you finally decided?"  
  
Negaduck gave him a smug smile. "Sure did. I wanted to get my kicks in before the bullet did you in. Even if I am the one that put it in there." He still had a hand gripped on Drake's arm and he lead him up the front stairs to the door. With his other hand he slowly turned the knob and opened the door. "Here we are, Home Sweet Home." As soon as he was through the door Drake tried to squirm out of Negaducks grasp, but he was too weak and Negaduck's grip was like a steel bar. "Not so fast, Drake. I've got a little surprise for you." He lead his double into the living room and shoved him to the floor in front of the transporter chairs.  
  
"What is this surprise, Negaduck?" He asked through clenched teeth, holding his shoulder.  
  
"Take a look." He pointed towards the chairs. Drake followed his finger and saw Gosalyn and Launchpad tied to the chairs and they weren't moving. Slowly he scooted across floor so he could take a closer look. What he saw made his blood run cold. The people he loved the most were dead. Shot in the head at close range. Then the ice in his blood melted and became volcanic lava running through his veins.  
  
The fury he felt gave him the strength to leap off of the floor and attack his opponant. Only instead of hitting a solid body he hit the floor when his own body slid through his target. As he hit the floor with his shoulder a howl of pain a howl of pain escaped his lips. Negaduck just calmly turned around to look at him and said, "You really shouldn't have done that. Now becuase of your little stunt I'm going to have to kill you sooner than I hoped. Oh well. Either way your going to die in pain." He slowly made his way over to where Drake was huddled, clutching his shoulder.  
  
Drake didn't pay him any attention. That bastard was going to pay for what he did to his little girl, his family. With what little strength he had left he crawled over to the two people in the chairs. He couldn't even bring himself call them by their names anymore, they were just shells now. The important part of them was gone.  
  
He never saw his adversary come up behind him until it was too late. Negaduck grabbed his arms and started pulling him by them to the stairs. Drake's scream was that of an animal, nothing that ressembled his usual yell. If there were people outside they would have come running, but there was no one to help him now and he knew it. Drake's only hoped that he would die soon.  
  
"You'll die when I tell you to." Negaduck said, again reading his mind. "I still have a few surprises for you." And he started climbing the stairs while pulling Drake behind him. By this time Drake was beyond pain, his body was starting to shut down from blood loss. He wasn't going to last much longer.  
  
At the top of the stairs Drake let out a moan. Negaduck twisted around to stare at him and saw how he was doing. "Uh, Damnit! This wasn't supposed to happen. I was hoping to get you in costume first. I guess that's going to have to wait until later." He let go of Drake's arms and came to his side. He reached down and almost gingerly picked him up. Then he carried him back down the stairs and laid him in front of the chairs.  
  
"Here we go, Drakey Boy. Your big moment, the one that you've been waiting all this time for." He stared down at Drake for a moment with a twisted smile. "It's been fun and all, but I have a schedule to keep." He reached down and put his hands around Drake's neck. Then he paused. "One more thing I have to tell you. All of this..." He let go of Drake's neck and waved a hand around the room. "Isn't real. It's all in that thick head of yours." He tapped his victim's head with a finger and his grin got bigger. "But either way your going to die when I strangle you, so do you have any last words for our audience?"  
  
Drake glared at Negaduck, or he tried to, his vision kept going blurry. Giving up on his sight he closed his eyes and opened his mouth. He managed to get out two words before the last of his strength gave out, "You bastard." And he fell back, panting.  
  
Negaduck gave out a cry of delight. Darkwing's last words were to him. "I know," and put his hands around Drake's neck. He felt satisfaction as his fingers felt Drake's pulse slow beneath the tender skin. He squeezed harder in his excitment and in the process crushing the bones in his neck. Finally he had reached the point of where Drake would never return, even if he was in the real world with medical assistance. He let go and watched as Drake stuggled for breath. For a brief moment he wished that he had popcorn to go with the show, but that thought passed as quickly as it had come.  
  
Drake fought to live. He knew it was a lost cause, he had felt the bones in his neck break, but still his survival instincts wouldn't let him quit. As he felt the last of his life leave his broken body his head fell to the side and he was able to see his little girl, even if it wasn't the real Gosalyn. He wanted so badly to be able to hold her one more time and tell her that he loved her more than anything on earth. But fate wasn't going to be that kind to him and he gave up.  
  
Negaduck watched in satisfaction as he saw Drake let out one last breath and went still. The last sign that there had been any life in that body was a single tear drop rolling off his bill and on to the blood covered floor. He gave a wicked smile as he waited for Drake's soul to leave the body. He had learned from others that it took a few moments before this would happen. He planned on dragging him down into the pits of Hell with him.  
  
When Drake's soul did leave the body, Negaduck got a very unpleasant surprise. Drake, dressed as Darkwing, just looked at him and smiled. "Thank's Negaduck." Then a white light came down from the ceiling.  
  
It was Negaduck's turn to drop his bill. "For what?"  
  
"For freeing me. In the real world I was dying. No matter what I would have died. You just put me out of misery sooner. You still lost and now I have to go." He gave him triumphant smile and turned into the white light. Negaduck started stomping his feet and yelling as he watched his enemy leave.  
  
As the last of the white light faded from sight, a pit opened up in front of him. From it Negaduck could hear a loud thunderous voice boom out, "You failed me, Negaduck." and Negaduck was sucked into the pit. Never to be heard from again.  
  
  
  
Back in the real world Goslayn Mallard watched in terror as her father slowly stopped breathing and a tear rolled down his face. She ran out of the room as a group of doctors came in to revive him. This had happened once before, but she knew that this would be the last. She had lost the one person who had given her a home, who understood her when no one else would try. Oh she still had Launchpad, but Drake was the one that was there for her no matter what. Now he was gone and she was alone again.  
  
She curled up into a ball in the hall and started to cry. A few minutes later she felt a hand touch her shoulder. She tried to push it away, she wanted to be alone in her grief. Then she heard the voice she so wanted to hear. "Gosalyn? Honey?" With tear streaming down her face she looked up in to the face of Drake Mallard. He was dressed in his Darkwing costume.  
  
"Dad?" It had to be her dad. Who else could it be? But he look different. His soft white feathers glowed with a light that wasn't there and he was completely healed of all his wounds.  
  
He smiled and said, "Yes, Gosalyn, it's me." He reached out his arms to hold her as he had wanted to when he died. She flew into them and held on for dear life.  
  
They stayed that way until Drake pulled back from her. He still had hold of her shoulders, but now he was looking into her face. "Gosalyn, I came back to tell you good-bye."  
  
Gosalyn shook her head vigerously. "No! You can't leave me. I need you!"  
  
His heart started to break all over again at her words. "I'm sorry Gos. I don't want to leave, but my time here is over. It's time for me to go home. They let me come back to tell you that we'll be together again. Have you ever heard on the term soulmates?" This time Goslayn nodded. "Well, that's what we are. And nothing can seperate us. Once we have found each other we're together for all eternity. So if you think about me I'll be there with you. Maybe not in a solid body but in spirit." His time was up.  
  
Gosalyn held tightly onto him. She wasn't ready to be alone again. Then she felt her finger start to go through him. She jerked back in surprise and saw him fade from view. "No! Dad, you can't leave me. Come back." The tears were flowing again.  
  
Drake looked at her with tears in his own eyes. The last words he said to her were, "I'm sorry, Honey. I love you." And he left, leaving her alone in the hall.  
  
Gosalyn wanted to die with him. A part of her already had. With him went half of her soul. She made a vow in that hall, "No matter what, dad, we'll be together. Until then I'll live my life for you and tell others of the man that saved me in more ways than one. I swear this."  
  
  
  
Finis  
  
Copyright 1999 Dawn Powell 


End file.
